Tag: fear

October #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 302: Equally stretched.

That day’s adventure was setting up the trampoline, a task we weren’t sure we would be able to do without my husband …but we thought we’d give it a girl power try. After confusing a few steps and taking a few breaks, we finally got a system of attaching the springs down.

The springs can’t be put on one right after another. After the first spring is on, we ran over to the opposite side of the trampoline and put a spring on over there. They have to be spaced out so that the pressure of the stretch is even throughout the whole thing.

Trying to take a spring off that had been put into the wrong slot took more strength than I had, so I went around to the other side and took springs off to release the pressure …and then back to move the one I’d miscounted. It was a painstaking process!

Today’s verse reminds us that, no matter what painful and particular processes we endure in this life, we needn’t be afraid. Calm and deep, Christ-led breaths will get us through this life. It’s not always easy, and sometimes we make a mistake and have to unravel the progress we’ve made. There’s loss along the way, forever good-byes and discomforting pain.

“Why should I be afraid?”

We shouldn’t. Not when we trust God. Not when Christ resides in our hearts and the Spirit lights our way. His love cannot be swayed or diminished by any hardship we go through. He promises that we will get through, and get to, Him. Through a life of walking, following, and keeping on …we will arrive home.

Father, Praise You for the promise that we will make it through this life and into Your arms in heaven. Thank You for Jesus’ death on the cross, and our belief in Him that assures that final destination.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 247: Grace isn’t scary.

Safe ears to speak to are treasures on this earth. Another person to embrace our mess and point us back to grace is soothing balm to the soul.

In today’s verse, finding safe ears to speak of Jesus were a matter of life and death. Early followers of Jesus sacrificed much to stand for their faith. Expulsion from life as they knew it, cast away from family and friends. Even some who believed dare not let on that they did, for fear of being kicked out and away from everything they knew.

New can be scary …

American life is full of religious freedom that we take for granted more than we want to let on. Across the ocean, others who believe in the same Jesus that we do suffer. They sacrifice everything. They are kicked out of circles they know …lives they have built …and are separated from those they love …for all time.

From the freedom we reside in, we must keep fighting for our circle, wherever they may be. There are missions and humanitarian movements …and we must keep praying and fighting to encircle the disconnected …the hurt …the displaced …if only in whispers, but prayerfully shouting.

The same fear that can cause us to whisper and hide, is the same fear that can produce loud echoes of awe-stricken worship for our God. The world is scary. There is much to fear. But as Christians, we are privy to the ending. In the meantime, we look to the One who gracefully swooped down to save us.

When we bump into conversation with someone about Jesus …will we brave the nudge in awe of our Lord, or fearfully whisper…

Father, Praise You the fear that scares us …but also inspires us. Thank You for the opportunity to openly worship You. We confess how much we take that for granted, and pray for all of those in this world who do not share such freedoms. Bless them, uphold them, and keep them fearless of whispers, and fearfully awestricken by You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

March #jammed: Grace Revealed.

Day 84: Afraid to use it.

“I think I’m ready for a nice bag,” I told my husband when he asked for Christmas ideas. This thrift store gal feels like paying half price is splurging, and sure enough, when I opened that big designer box for Christmas …I could finally say I owned something really valuable.

Listen. I’ve used that bag a handful of times. The rest of the time it sits in my closet and looks really pretty. I like to look at it, but I’m nervous using it. I don’t want to be the one to break it in. Second hand purchases are way less stressful.

“To meditate on the Scriptures is to think about them, turning them over in our minds, and applying them to our life’s situations.” Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness

The other issue lodged in my heart was guilt. There are hungry people, and I’m carrying this bag. Bleh. Just makes me feel all sorts of ugly.

Then, there’s worrying about what people will think. “Oh, she has that bag …hmmmm.. must be nice.”

“Train yourself to be godly…” todays’ verse says. What does that mean?

“godliness-Reverence for or devotion to God, producing a practical awareness of God in every aspect of life….in this verse’s context …godly living demands self-discipline.” Dictionary of Bible Themes.

Grace is not afraid of our worthiness. When we accept more than we deserve with a thankful heart, it displays gratitude …which is a discipline of the heart. To be thankful. I’m not sure how much I’ll use that bag, but I do know myself. I requested a neutral, timeless color that wouldn’t drift out of season or style. I may grow into it.

Grace, on the other hand, is one size fits all and for all seasons and walks of life.

Father, Praise You for grace. Thank You for blessing us with nice things on this earth, even though they will fade away along with the life we live here. Forgive us for valuing any ‘thing’ beyond Your grace. Bless us with grateful, disciplined, hearts. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What is your favorite thing to look at “up close?” Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

Wetness went dropped onto my left arm, and my right rib was cradling a pokey little elbow. My feet were blocked in by our warm puppy, and I was sweating with no way to get out of the covers. Normally, I have no problem drifting off to sleep in that heavenly little scene, but this night was different. This evening, fear wafted in the crack of the window and threatened to steal more peace than the claustrophobia that leaves it open in of January.

“Can you come home?” I texted my husband, out watching football with friends while I snuggled my daughters to sleep. “I have one of those weird feelings…”

Every once in a while I nudge my husband awake because I’ve been nudged awake. Not knowing why, I listen for any sound that could be deemed the suspicious source of the fear, and then beg my husband to go downstairs and check everything for “suspiciousness.” He hates it. It really aggravates him. He feels no sense of bravado at all for protecting me and really loathes me yanking him out of a deep sleep.

There is an inference of wisdom in today’s verse that soothes my out of control soul’s grasp for it in the middle of the night. This particular wisdom has a name …sophia.

sophia is a word meaning “wisdom.” It denotes the capacity to not only understand something (Acts 7:22) but also to act accordingly (Col 1:9; 4:5). It is the latter that separates wisdom from knowledge.

‘Sophia’ should quiet the false alarm that intrusion is inevitable. So, why do I still stir?

…There is a natural wisdom; Moses was instructed in “the wisdom of Egypt” (Acts 7:22). But there is also a special wisdom that can come only from God, especially through the Holy Spirit. -Mouce’s Complete Expository Dictionary

That’s it right there. That’s why the only way I can fall back asleep is through prayer. When we activate the Holy Spirit of God living within us as a product of Jesus’ gift of grace on the cross, we have the ability to remain calm …even in the face of real fear …but especially through the overreactive middle-of-the-night-creepy-sound fear.

“Who would have dreamed? God lit up the earth with the brilliant display of Holy Spirit! And in an instant, God is now within us. We walk with every might and magnificence of God in our core. We are filled with his instruction. The Word of God brings power in our heart. We can worship in Spirit. Oh yes, Jesus knew He was leaving us His very best. No wonder He spoke so confidently.” Kelly Balarie, Fear Fighting

I hope my fear never comes to fruition, and please don’t disregard creepy sounds on my account. Wake them up and make them check! But wisdom is knowing that the feeling of fear is only frightened away by the Power that lies within.

Father, Praise You for equipping us to fight our fears. Some are very real, and others just a possibility that scares us. Thank you for sending Your Spirit to help us know the difference. And forgive us when we allow fear to carry us out of control. Bless us to seek You first when we are scared. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What scares you awake? Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

The strength to live authentically comes from God, alone. King David’s encouragement is centered on the confidence source of our courage. Living our full truth out loud comes from bravely walking within our God-placed purpose. Comparing our lives to those around us, and the mold of societal acceptance, chokes our ability to live uninhibited. But life exposed to the Light sets us free.

Hidden Heart Health

When I first earned the freedom to drive, I began to exit the highway early on the way to my family’s favorite summer hangout. Windows down and Alanis turned up, I dreamt of what it would be like to swap the suburban hustle for a sleepy lake-town life. Little did I know at 16, that roughly fifteen years later God would move our family onto a piece of land that my ’86 Nova passed by hundreds of times.

We unwrapped and repacked Christmas the year that we moved from our beloved starter home. The tree was reassembled and each ornamental reminder was placed back on it’s branches, and everyone in that sleepy little lake town noticed. Â Suddenly the plethora of windows we choose to fit our house with, along the only busy road in town, seemed like a questionable idea.

“When I’m afraid …”

Charles F. Stanely points out that “the psalmist does not say, ‘if I am afraid,’ he says, ‘when I am afraid.'”

We all face something in life that makes us want to close all the blinds and hide from the world. God promises never to leave us, and forgive our sins when we confess them. Fear causes us to assume we are alone and unforgivable, re-confessing and running from sin that He has already forgiven.

Legitimate Labels

In an attempt to stretch farther than I could reach, a vase teetered and came crashing to the ground in pieces. I picked up the pieces, but the tiny shards were too small to be glued back together.

“I put my trust in you.”

The MacArthur Study Bible states that “Confidence in the Lord is a purposeful decision, replacing an emotional reaction to one’s circumstances.”

David was definitely having an emotional reaction as he ran from King Saul, but he eventually remembered what the Lord had said. God’s Truth can snap us out of temporary insanity. Hiding with his men in the back of a cave, King Saul entered to ‘relieve himself.’ David snuck up and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe, and then has an attack of conscience. (2 Samuel 24: 1-5)

Labels can be leveling, especially the ones that we are hesitant to claim. There are certain thing we don’t post on social media, or bring in up in casual conversation, because it’s hard to believe they belong to us. We’d rather close the blinds.

The redemptive power of Christ pieces every tiny shard back together. He rolls on grace like gorilla glue. We don’t have to stop living life or hide our progress. The journey back to who He says we’ve always been is a testimony to His great love. Don’t draw the blinds on that.

Charles F. Stanley says in his Life Principles Bible Notes,“God does not tell us to ignore our anxieties, but to bring them to Him and realize that He can overcome any terror we ever have to face.”

Reverse Roles

My husband and I didn’t think about the ramifications of everyone being able to peer into our lives through the windows, because we were attracted to the beauty of natural light. Living in fear of what others might see draws the blinds. We hide from exposure. That’s not the life God gave us to live. That’s not the life Jesus died to grant us. “I came so that you may have life, and have it to the full,” Jesus said in John 10:10

Living our lives exposed to the light grants us freedom. When we turn up the volume on other voices, opinions, worries, shame, and regret, we become self-focused and selfish in protecting what we fear are unforgivable mistakes and missteps.

Authentically living for Christ begins with a real relationship with Him, in prayer and Scripture. David walked out of that cave to face Saul, reaffirmed by remembering who God said he was. Our stories, labels, and lives, exist so that others may experience the love of Christ.

Father, Praise You for this day, and Your purpose for it. Thank You for the blessings we woke up today, and those that will riddle our minutes and we walk throughout it. Forgive us for hiding the parts of our lives that are hard to face. We want to fully trust in You, God. Give us hearts like Jesus’. Help us to live authentically because we trust in You. Make us aware, as we travel through daily conversations, of those that we are meant to encourage by sharing parts of our struggles. Bless all those who hide in the darkness, ashamed and scared. May be a bright light of encouragement to every person You purposely place in our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.